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Mass Production of iPhones to Start in India

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Re: Mass Production of iPhones to Start in India

#81

Post by sumedh »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #55
Alterlife wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In some ways, every third-world country in the world SHOULD do this. I say this as an Indian iPhone user. iPhones are a luxury product. A tax on imported high end electronics is a tax on the well-off. Not only that, it's the best kind - a tax that an end-user can choose whether or not they want to pay.

In most ways they shouldn't, poorer countries have been doing rather well out of globalisation. If trade wars started all over the world they would suffer the most.

> poorer countries have been doing rather well out of globalisation.

Rich countries as well, lot of pharma drugs sold in the US come from India.

Re: Mass Production of iPhones to Start in India

#82

Post by sumedh »

kmlx wrote: post #65
Theodores wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> India is a huge market. There was a time when the British destroyed the textiles trade in India and made everyone buy stuff made in Manchester. Before that India had 25% or so of the global market. With a billion or so people living in the sub-continent there should be an indigenous mobile phone and eco-system that suits the market better than what Silicon Valley can provide. China can do it, Europe used to be able…

what's up with so much nationalism coming from India? why would it matter where you're sending a portion of your so-called "wealth" when you're getting something in return? considering the horrific state India is in (high corruption, high poverty, low healthcare, no infrastructure, you name it), the location of where an iPhone is produced should literally be the last thing the government cares about. maybe the value…

> considering the horrific state India is in (high corruption, high poverty, low healthcare, no infrastructure, you name it),

You missed jobs in that statement, Iphone factory brings jobs directly and indirectly in that region. Try looking at the big picture.

Re: Mass Production of iPhones to Start in India

#83

Post by Theodores »

sumedh wrote: post #82
kmlx wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what's up with so much nationalism coming from India? why would it matter where you're sending a portion of your so-called "wealth" when you're getting something in return? considering the horrific state India is in (high corruption, high poverty, low healthcare, no infrastructure, you name it), the location of where an iPhone is produced should literally be the last thing the government cares about. maybe the value…

> considering the horrific state India is in (high corruption, high poverty, low healthcare, no infrastructure, you name it), You missed jobs in that statement, Iphone factory brings jobs directly and indirectly in that region. Try looking at the big picture.

In the automotive sector India has its own successful manufacturers.

Tata now owns a whole slew of British auto companies in Jaguar/Land Rover. So, despite these horror stories of corruption, someone in the Indian auto sector is doing something right.

I don't see why, given the market size, that India can't have its own full stack of mobile phone tech, operating systems, apps and everything else. Why settle for crumbs from the Apple table? Why settle for a few jobs for the profits to go back to Cupertino? The Tata Steel example is proof that dreams don't have to be downsized and that countries have to be beholden to American corporations.

Re: Mass Production of iPhones to Start in India

#84

Post by gambiting »

ForHackernews wrote: post #62
mstade wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Open the box and plug it in while in the states. Now it’s just property you brought along, not imported goods, so no duties to pay. I ain’t no lawyer though, and this is just advice I’ve been given in the past, so mileage may vary etc. (I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s entirely wrong, someone please correct me!)

I'm pretty sure that's legally fraud, but yes, there's a good chance you'd get away with it.

Unless you're buying it with an explicit purpose to sell it off and avoid the import taxes that way it's absolutely not fraud. You are legally allowed to buy something for yourself while abroad and bring it back.

That's why you get certain allowances of how much you are allowed to bring back with you - say up to 200 cartons of cigarettes are free to bring over and that's clearly not something that you brought with you.

Re: Mass Production of iPhones to Start in India

#85

Post by mstade »

ForHackernews wrote: post #62
mstade wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Open the box and plug it in while in the states. Now it’s just property you brought along, not imported goods, so no duties to pay. I ain’t no lawyer though, and this is just advice I’ve been given in the past, so mileage may vary etc. (I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s entirely wrong, someone please correct me!)

I'm pretty sure that's legally fraud, but yes, there's a good chance you'd get away with it.

If it is fraud, then at what point is it not? If I used it for a day/week/month before bringing it, is it ok? Intent matters I suppose, but how do you prove intent to circumvent import duties, versus just bringing my stuff? I genuinely don't know, seems like a lot of gray area.

Re: Mass Production of iPhones to Start in India

#86

Post by gruez »

ido wrote: post #60
jrockway wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Canada: $1379. (On the $999-in-the-US iPhone XS.) They do not always use the round numbers.

Seeing as most Canadians live near the US border maybe they go closer to American prices there as there's a lower barrier for Canadians to cut the fat margins by crossing the border and buying in the US?

Considering that 1000 USD is 1340 CAD, you're only saving around 40 CAD for your troubles. That doesn't seem worth it if you value your time.

Re: Mass Production of iPhones to Start in India

#87

Post by vijaybritto »

sumedh wrote: post #80
vijaybritto wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. The sale of 500$+ phones in only in a few million.

> The sale of 500$+ phones in only in a few million. Its not about market size today, you have to look into the future as well.

In the future apple's phones would be 1500 plus. They are already making loss. Apple's positioning in India is as a 'premium' brand. It's price is so high that even IT employees buy in EMI. Meanwhile Chinese android phones haves 95% of the quality at 1/5th the price. There is no market fit

Re: Mass Production of iPhones to Start in India

#88

Post by claudiawerner »

kmlx wrote: post #65
Theodores wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> India is a huge market. There was a time when the British destroyed the textiles trade in India and made everyone buy stuff made in Manchester. Before that India had 25% or so of the global market. With a billion or so people living in the sub-continent there should be an indigenous mobile phone and eco-system that suits the market better than what Silicon Valley can provide. China can do it, Europe used to be able…

what's up with so much nationalism coming from India? why would it matter where you're sending a portion of your so-called "wealth" when you're getting something in return? considering the horrific state India is in (high corruption, high poverty, low healthcare, no infrastructure, you name it), the location of where an iPhone is produced should literally be the last thing the government cares about. maybe the value…

>why would it matter where you're sending a portion of your so-called "wealth" when you're getting something in return?

Perhaps the "wealth" you're sending and what you're getting back are qualitatively different and you have reason to prefer one over the other. Or even more simply, perhaps what you're getting in return isn't worth more than what you're giving. As an aside, in the philosophy of exploitation, it is entirely possible for exploitation to exist even if both the exploiter and the exploited benefit in some way in the transaction.

Re: Mass Production of iPhones to Start in India

#89

Post by jpatokal »

itissid wrote: post #32
Ayesh wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Apple is pretty late at this point. Xiaomi and Oppo have figured out the distribution, localization, and a sizeable user base already there, and a decent smart phone now costs $150-200. They are quite good phones and from what I understand, price is the biggest driver for sales.

But apple is a luxury brand. You can't say that with Xiaomi or Oppo. With luxury brand the price is not a bug but a feature for the people that swear by them. And Rich people don't even care about the money. the 50-100 million rich people in india are least bothered about the price tag as long as it signifies luxury and status.

Xiaomi is a luxury brand in the Chinese market.

And rich by Indian standards doesn't mean they can afford to spend over $1000 on an iPhone: in India, a top 1% household earns only about $1000/month.

Re: Mass Production of iPhones to Start in India

#90

Post by dis-sys »

Alterlife wrote: post #44
ulfw wrote: post #40

This is so against globalisation and global trade it‘s not even funny. Totally cool if Apple did this voluntarily, but the only reason they‘re doing it is to prevent high import taxes. India is a huge market. So it‘s all good. Brazil is a good deal smaller and requires the same thing. So does Argentina (and is even smaller). Now imagine every country would do this.

In some ways, every third-world country in the world SHOULD do this. I say this as an Indian iPhone user. iPhones are a luxury product. A tax on imported high end electronics is a tax on the well-off. Not only that, it's the best kind - a tax that an end-user can choose whether or not they want to pay.

> A tax on imported high end electronics is a tax on the well-off.

According to the latest market research [1] in China, IPhone are mostly used in China by undereducated people with relatively low income, people with decent education & job mostly use Android phones.

This is consistent with what I see on daily basis - almost all my friends & coworkers use MacBook Pro + Huawei/Xiaomi phone. If I try really really hard, I can probably eventually list 1-2 friends & coworkers who use iPhone, but like I said, I need to try hard to recall that.

[1] https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/2174310/research-highlight...

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